Am i losing my supply

ok so far all has been going well, ive had days where i leak like a sieve and days where its not so bad! I have also had mornings when my BB's have been rock hard and sore because Miss Em had a good nights sleep! Now lately she has been sleeping through and i haven't been waking up with rock hard fulls breast! Am i starting to loose supply? I also tried to express tonight which i haven't done for a little while and 30mins later i hardly had any milk! Maybe 10mls if that! Whereas i usually get between 60-120mls! Am i loosing my supply??? What can i do to increase it if i am? Feeds are going well apart from this, but its important i express to get my stock up for when Uni starts! Im trying real hard to give this a good go!

Try expressing in the morning. Especially if she has had a long sleep. I can't express at all in the evening. The other changes are perfectly normal and are no indication of your supply.

:yeahthat:
I was the same, could only express when she would have been due for a feed if I were at work or after a feed in the morning.

Thanks Michelle and Kim! i tried again this morning and didn't get much more than i did last night! and Miss Em slept from 2000-0517! and i most certainly did not feel full :(

The more anxious you are about expressing and volume, the harder it is to get anything unfortunately. Every 10mls counts towards a feed :) Express each morning and it should start to increase. I can rarely ever get more than 50mls per session.

ETA - that is one impressive sleep!!!!

Wow, you go little chick!
What time to you go to bed hj? Could you fit in an express late at night? Not really useful I guess if you go to bed at 9.30, but I'm a night owl....
I totally agree with Michelle, every 10ml counts. Put together it will make a lot if you're doing it every day.

HJ, it's important to remember that your boobs and BF in general, are possibly well established now and know how much milk they need to make for Em's requirements, DTMS? If your boobs were rock hard all the time after she had a good night's sleep, even months down the track, I don't think many women would want to keep BF if it was that uncomfortable all the time.
So what I'm saying is, it could be that your supply is establishing well and adjusting to her needs so don't worry too much.

If you are feeding Em regularly as often as she asks for it, probably 3hrly yeah? Then your supply would be fine! And she's getting lots of wet nappies then you have plenty of milk.

I understand your need to express for when you go back to work so doing that now and then will also help with your supply :)

I think everyone else has summed it up nicely for you HJ! Please dont stress your self out about it, its quite common to not be able toexpress much once your supply settles, Babies are much better at extracting milk than pumps are.
I was able to express great volumes of milk in J's first months, but after that, not a lot at all, but I knew he was still getting what he needed. (when he fed)
Most importantly, knowing you, try not to STRESS! :)

What all the others said hon - don't stress! And way to go Miss Em :clap:

DD started sleeping through at 9 weeks (10+ hrs) so I had the same worries as you but really, don't worry! I'd had breast feeding issues from the start which only heightened my concerns but I really had nothing to worry about. Boobies are amazing things and will adjust your milk supply as your baby requires it :) Don't judge your expressing efforts, it's not a good indication of 'what's in there' and stressing makes it harder to express as well. With regards to the firmness of your breasts and leaking, all breast are different and yours may have found their BF groove already :)

Oh, and before I forget, I BF DD until 13 days short of her first birthday :)

I haven't red what the others have said so I am sorry if I'm repeating, but if she's happy then your body has worked out what your baby needs is all! Your bod now knows bubby is sleeping through, but even if she was to wake you'd have enough there to feed.

I was told first time round, only those that express really know how much there is, others just go off how bubby is.... So if she's happy and settled theres enough there :)

GL with it all, you're doing a great job! :clap:

Hi,
You can't *lose your milk* it just doesn't work that way. As long as you feed your baby your body makes milk. In the early days your milk supply is driven by high levels of hormones (prolactin) in your body, but over time this changes to "supply and demand" your body makes what your baby demands. At this point (and for most of the rest of the tme you are breastfeeding your breasts pretty much just feel soft and normal, but they are making milk just fine. If your baby sleeps all night after (a little while) your body will adjust to this so you are not waking up full and sore all the time. if you want to express you might need to get a little cannier about it - ie feed one breast and express the other. Or do it after there's been a longish gap between feeds. And not when you are anxious! If you express after a feed, or when she's been cluster feeding you won't get much - she just drank it. But by and large the system works - just feed your baby when she asks, and don't even worry about expressing unless you have to. Spread the word - your milk doesn't *just dry up* and you can't *lose it* if you keep using it!

was going to do individual reply's but everyone has said pretty much the same thing! and that same thing makes SO much sense! So a MASSIVE thankyou to everyone!
Miss Em has been pretty much sleeping through for a little while now so yes your all right i guess my body has adjusted to that! and SHANTI your right if my boobs were rock hard all the time than i prob wouldn't want to keep bfeeding! it feels great to have my soft BB's back ;)
Also during the day she has heaps of wet nappies so she is definatly getting enough!
I will keep trying to do at least one express a day to stock up for when i go back to uni and for my prac days etc.. but KIM im going to have to try and find a good time to do it, because i try and sneak into bed when the girls are down, as i never know how often or when one of the girls will wake up! LOL gone are my night owl days!
STARRY you know me too well! Yep stressing is what i do best! and like TAUREAN said - stressing is not going to help the situation so must try and relax a bit! hahahaha
TIFF - thanks for telling me im doing a good job! its always helpful to hear that!

Its funny i always thought once i reach my goal of 6wks feeding than i would be happy if i had to stop or couldn't continue for some reason but the longer i do it the more i want to keep doing it!

Barb - thankyou again for comming to my rescue with some reassurance and wise wisdome!

Great attitude hon! Glad you're feeling better about everything :)

Im feeling heaps better! off to go try and express some more now that im a bit more chilled! LOL wish me luck!